Misunderstanding? A Little Hurt

Soaked through by the rain, Li Xingqing had no intention of going to Xi Zhen’s home. She looked again at the materials Xi Zhen had just handed her, tightened her grip in silence, and had already made plans for her next move.

Li Xingqing’s return to the country this time was, of course, not only for Xi Zhen. Li Ji had held onto the Li Group for so many years; it was time to take everything back.

When Xi Zhen got home, she even paused to listen for any other sound outside the door.

Unfortunately, there was only silence. Li Xingqing hadn’t come after her. Xi Zhen couldn’t tell whether she felt regret or something else; she only felt a heavy tightness in her chest that made it hard to breathe.

She hadn’t changed a thing in these five years, not even the placement of the furniture. Outsiders didn’t know what she was thinking and only assumed she was used to it. But only she knew she had deliberately kept everything just as it was for one person.

At the sound of Xi Zhen coming in, a black shadow darted out from inside the room and slowly padded over to her side.

Seeing it come closer, Xi Zhen bent down and gathered it into her arms, soothing it softly.

Clearly, everything from the previous night was still vivid in her memory; yet once the alcohol wore off, the two people who had clung to each other in bed suddenly turned on one another, as if they wanted to draw swords and fight.

The rain kept falling all night. Xi Zhen put her work on hold and gave herself a few days off. She felt that for the time being she had no energy left to deal with work, so she simply stayed home and did nothing.

These past few days, Li Xingqing had once again disappeared without a trace, which made Xi Zhen feel dazed, as if the events of the previous days had only been a dream.

But the thing Xi Zhen found in her bag made it perfectly clear that none of it had been a dream.

After what happened that night, Xi Zhen left quickly the next morning. Yet soon afterward, she found a small box in a hidden compartment of her bag; inside was a necklace. The diamonds set into it sparkled brilliantly, clearly no ordinary piece. And who had put it there was obvious enough.

For once, Xi Zhen didn’t return the necklace. Instead, for reasons of her own, she kept it. She didn’t wear it, but she didn’t casually toss it into a drawer either; she put it somewhere safe, somewhere she would always remember.

Half a month passed, and Xi Zhen still hadn’t seen Li Xingqing, nor had she received any seemingly related phone call. On the contrary, Bai Mo called her instead, reporting that he seemed to have succeeded in falling in love.

“Jiejie, so Zheng Yuyu had been waiting for me all this time.”

“It turns out all those worries were just because we were both too timid. We should’ve just said everything plainly from the start.”

“In fact, ...”

By the time Bai Mo kept going, Xi Zhen had already stopped listening much. Of course she was happy for her younger brother for finding true love, but unfortunately, Xi Zhen really wasn’t in the right state to hear other people’s love stories right now.

Bai Mo droned on for quite a while. When he realized Xi Zhen had gone quiet, he also fell silent. After a moment, he asked tentatively, “Jiejie, are you still... not over Teacher Li? But...”

“Bai Mo, I already had my assistant send you your next assignments, right? Take a good look at them first; I’ve still got something to do here.” Xi Zhen seemed to realize something and hurriedly cut him off.

She hung up very quickly. Though she had always been like this, Bai Mo still sensed something off. Unfortunately, his sister had always made up her own mind; he could only hope she wouldn’t get hurt, and wouldn’t hurt herself.

With nowhere to let her pent-up emotions out, Xi Zhen could only bury herself in work. But every now and then, opening the Li Group’s stock chart betrayed what she was truly thinking.

Finally, when she saw Li Group’s stock turn green again and again, Xi Zhen snapped her laptop shut with a bang and stood up.

“I’m going out for a bit,” she told her assistant, then grabbed her car keys and headed straight for the underground parking garage.

On the way, she called Shi Fengyu. The other party answered immediately, very accommodating. “What is it?”

“Can we meet? Something came up on my side.” Xi Zhen started the engine; her voice traveled through the phone into Shi Fengyu’s ear. Probably realizing what Xi Zhen wanted to talk about, Shi Fengyu said, “Then come to Bai Yujing. I’m meeting a client here; should be done in about an hour.”

“Okay. See you in a bit.” Xi Zhen hung up and floored the accelerator, driving toward Bai Yujing.

Li Xingqing really had not deliberately avoided seeing Xi Zhen during this time. Earlier, she had finally dealt with the matters on the Yin family’s side, sending in the distant relatives who had their own schemes; those who needed to be sent in were sent in, and those who needed to be settled were settled.

She had raced back to the country in time for Xi Zhen’s birthday, but before she could even get around to developing anything further with her, something had happened on the M nation side. Helpless, Li Xingqing had no choice but to put Xi Zhen’s side aside for the moment, and only after making sure there could be no further trouble over there did she free her hands to deal with Li Ji at home.

When she returned this time, Yin Shu had promised Li Xingqing that even if the Yin family went bankrupt tomorrow, she still wouldn’t suddenly call Li Xingqing away.

Li Xingqing had only just arrived back in the country the night before and still hadn’t fully adjusted to the time difference, yet the next day she was already attending a gathering hosted by Jiang Xia, the eldest young lady of the Jiang family.

The Jiang family’s momentum had grown stronger and stronger over the years, and it all came down to this Miss Jiang. Sharp-eyed and good at putting the right people in the right places; as for her methods, that could be set aside for now, but just in terms of running a company, she was undeniably very capable.

Besides, Jiang Xia had long since sensed something was wrong from Li Taihong’s sudden car accident five years ago. She hadn’t had a clear idea at the time, but now that she knew Li Xingqing was alive, she naturally understood even more clearly what kind of hidden truth was buried underneath.

At a time like this, it was the perfect opportunity to take a share of the benefits. More importantly, Jiang Xia looked down even more on a bastard like Li Ji. Back when Li Taihong’s affair had broken into a public scandal, everyone in their circle knew he was a man who had clawed his way up by relying on his wife. To think he would do something like this, even openly grooming an illegitimate son as his heir; plenty of people sneered at that behavior. Compared with him, Li Xingqing seemed much more likable.

By the time Li Xingqing arrived at Bai Yujing, Jiang Xia was already there. Seeing Li Xingqing walk in, she adopted the posture of an older sister and didn’t put on any chairman’s airs. From Jiang Xia’s behavior, Li Xingqing understood her attitude, and also understood that this was Huaguo; if she truly wanted Li Ji to receive the punishment he deserved, she would still need Jiang Xia’s support.

The two sides spoke very happily. When it was time to leave, Jiang Xia even stood up specifically to escort Li Xingqing out.

Li Xingqing didn’t refuse and followed Jiang Xia out of the private room. The two of them chatted all the way as if they’d been discussing some amusing topic, their expressions relaxed and the atmosphere pleasant, only to run into Xi Zhen in the lobby, who had come for their appointment.

The instant she saw Xi Zhen, Li Xingqing’s expression shifted; her brows rose almost imperceptibly, carrying a probing look. The polite smile on her face faded, and she gradually returned to her usual expressionless state.

But Li Xingqing had forgotten that this ordinary expression was the coldness she had developed over five years facing relatives like wolves and tigers. It was not the obedience and innocence she had originally shown when facing Xi Zhen.

So what Xi Zhen saw from not far away was Li Xingqing, who had been smiling and chatting with someone else, suddenly collecting her smile the moment she saw her.

For some reason, Xi Zhen felt a sharp ache in her heart. She instinctively wanted to drag the other person over and demand an explanation, or tell Li Xingqing to keep her distance from others. But that wasn’t something she could do, and she had no identity or standing to do it either.

Jiang Xia had already sensed something was wrong from the abruptly chilled atmosphere. Looking up, she spotted Xi Zhen standing not far away. She wasn’t very familiar with Xi Zhen; the only connection they had was through her younger brother Jiang Shang. Still, Jiang Xia remembered that back when Li Ji was putting obstacles in Li Xingqing’s way, it seemed to have had something to do with this person.

Watching the exchange of looks between Xi Zhen and Li Xingqing, Jiang Xia’s curiosity only deepened. She couldn’t help wondering: was this a meeting between enemies, with eyes blazing at the sight of each other, or an encounter with an old lover full of tenderness?

Before she could figure out the answer, Shi Fengyu, who had finished seeing her client and come down to pick up Xi Zhen, had already arrived.

“Zhenzhen.” Shi Fengyu called out. Not noticing Li Xingqing staring at her with an unfriendly gaze, she walked straight to Xi Zhen’s side. “I’ve been waiting for you forever. Why are you standing here?”

“I... I’m fine. Let’s go upstairs first.” Xi Zhen suddenly didn’t know what to say in this situation. Reason told her she shouldn’t drag Shi Fengyu into the relationship between her and Li Xingqing. But seeing Jiang Xia standing beside Li Xingqing, the string in her head suddenly snapped.

When Shi Fengyu heard her say that, she shielded Xi Zhen and was about to leave, but after only two steps they were called to a stop. “Wait. Aren’t you going to introduce me? Sister?” Li Xingqing used a form of address she hadn’t used in a long time; unsurprisingly, Xi Zhen stopped in her tracks.

Li Xingqing stood where she was, her gaze burning as she looked Shi Fengyu over. Truth be told, what Song Xunqing had said back then might not all have been false. Shi Fengyu and she were indeed somewhat alike in a certain sense.

Jiang Xia, who had been standing to the side, didn’t want to miss such a good show, but she also felt that getting herself involved at this moment was not a wise choice. She quickly said goodbye to Li Xingqing; as for what sort of entanglement there was between these two, so long as Li Xingqing didn’t forget their cooperation, that was enough.

Jiang Xia’s departure eased some of the awkwardness, but the lobby was still no place to talk. So Shi Fengyu took charge and brought Li Xingqing along to the private room she had booked in advance.

Shi Fengyu had originally been meeting a client, so the room she had booked was a tea room. Because the client had only just left, the used tea set and other utensils hadn’t yet been cleared away. But since Xi Zhen had only made the appointment with her on short notice anyway, she didn’t mind.

Li Xingqing, on the other hand, took one look and said something tinged with sarcasm: “Lawyer Shi, when you meet your girlfriend, you still have to drink water someone else already drank?” The remark was overly sharp, but fortunately Shi Fengyu had good breeding and didn’t argue with her. She also didn’t bother to explain the “girlfriend” in Li Xingqing’s mouth; she simply called a server over to replace everything.

When there was nowhere to vent her anger, it was doused with a bucket of cold water. Li Xingqing pressed her tongue against the back of her teeth in irritation and continued to lash out at the person in front of her. “Sister, I never expected that in these five years I was gone, you’d actually been living quite comfortably.” She turned to glance at Shi Fengyu, then looked back at Xi Zhen. “Even rekindling things with your ex.”